updated 04:25 pm EDT, Mon September 19, 2011

Google teaches devs to allow, block phones in ICS

Google gave notice to developers that they should change their apps to support Ice Cream Sandwich. Anyone writing apps for Android 3 (Honeycomb) has been asked to write code either excluding phones from support or adapt what they have to support smaller screens. Android already has a Fragment interface that lets developers write an app that can go back as far as Android 1.6 but which recognizes 3.0 and beyond.

Much of the adaptation work will be handled automatically, lead developer technology writer Scott Main said. They should still avoid publishing any changes to Android Market or other stores, however, until they could at least test against the official Ice Cream Sandwich emulator.

Main wouldn't be drawn into saying when the new OS would ship. Leaks have put the Nexus Prime out on November 3, although whether or not developers can start writing for Ice Cream Sandwich near that time isn't certain. The executive did note that apps written first for Android 3 would start running on ICS if they don't exclude phones.